Fence



(No Model.)

' J. W. CLARK.

FENCE Patented Apr. 6, 1886.

N, PETERS. Mummy, Washington In;

UiTnn STATES PATENT JAMES W. CLARK, OF ETNA, OHIO.

FENCE.

fdPEGIl-ICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,266, dated April6, 1886.

Application filed September 9,1885. Serial No. 176,634.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Janus W. CLARK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Etna, in the county of Licking and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fences; and I do declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of referencemarked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

My invention is animproved method of binding rail fences; and itconsists in certain novel features, hereinafter described and claimed.

In the annexed drawings, Figurel is a side elevation of two panels of afence constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional Viewon line x m, Fig. 1, showing three methods of securing the binding-wireand Fig. 3 is a detail view, showing the method of securing a singlerail to the post.

The fence-posts are of ordinary form, and may be of any desired size ornumber. They are provided along one side with staples A A", arranged atright angles to each other in pairs, as will be understood from Figs. 2and 3. The pairs of staples are placed a distance apart equal to thedistance desired between the rails of the fence, and one pair of staplesis provided for each rail or pair of rails. The lower staple, A, of eachpair is placed vertically or in the direction of the length of the post,and the upper staple, A is arranged at right angles to the lower staple,or transversely to the direction of length of the post. Through thelower staple, A, I pass the bindingwire B, and the posts are then set inthe ground at the desired distance apart. The staples are placed such adistance apart that when the rails are in position the upper staple, A,will be some what below the line of the upper edge of the rails, and thelower staple will be on a line with the lower edge of the rails.

After the posts have been set up the rails are placed in position andsecured by bending the binding-wire around the rails, passing the endsthrough the upper staple, and then securing it.

I have shown three methods of securing the (X0 model.)

binding-wire, and in practice propose to use which ever method isdesired by the purchaser. I prefer, however, to use the method marked 1in Fig. 2. In this method the wire, after he ingpassed around thefence-rail,ispasseddownward through the upper staple, A between the postand lower cross portion of the hind ing-wire, and is then bent upward,as shown. This method forms a secure fastening which will not becomeloose and can be very quickly applied. The method marked 2 can bequickly applied; but it is liable to give way under severe strain causedby the weight of the fence rails and the shocks given the same by cattlerunning against it. The wire, after being passed around the fencerails,is passed upward through the staple A, then bent back toward the rail,being passed between the rail and that portion of the wire whichencircles the rail, and is bent around the same. In-

, stead of twisting the end of. the wire around the rail encirclingportion of the same, it could be simply bent back and a ring, D, slippedover the same, as shown in the method marked 3.

Vhen a rail is blOl((3ll,lb is not necessary to take down thecorresponding rails in the adjacent panels. The broken rail is removed,and that half of the binding-wire which held the same is bent back uponitself and around the post, as shown in Fig. 3. This double bending ofthe wire will give the same suflicient strength to hold the rail untilthe fence can be repaired.

It will be understood from thedrawings that the ends of the two rails onthe same level are secured to the post on opposite sides of the same,and that the method of fastening the rails described is duplicated.

It will be seen that my fastening will readily adapt itself to rails ofdifferent sizes, as by passing the wire through the staples it can bedrawn to any desired tension. The friction between the upper staple andthe wire bent around it will. be so great as to dispense with the needof any tying or twisting the ends of the wire together, as is the usualmethod.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent,

1. In a fence, the combination of the post and rails with thehereindescribed means for securing the rails to the posts, consisting ofa pair of staples secured to a side of the post near each other, the onetransversely to, the other in line with,the length of the post, and abinding-wire extended through the vertical staple and around the rail orrails, and having its ends passed around the legs of the horizontalstaple and fastened, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination of the posts A, a pair of staples arranged on theside thereof at right angles relatively to each other, and at a distanceapart slightly less than the width of the rail, the lower staple beingvertically arranged,

JAMES w. CLARK.

Witnesses:

ANGIE SWINEHART, G. V. HELMICK.

